Hold on to What If
by Shelfkid91
Summary: It's been ten years since Tails went missing, and Sonic went looking for him... and never came back. In their absence, the Eggman Empire rose again. Now, all that remains of the Resistance is a small group with little hope of surviving; until Tails unexpectedly returns , having not aged a day. Now, Knuckles thinks they stand a chance, even with Eggman's new weapon looming over them
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: Man, it's been FOREVER since I've written some Sonic fanfic! But Sonic Forces got my juices flowing! So, here we go!_

 _This is kind of a sequel to Sonic Forces. Like, Forces DID happen in this universe._

 _Disclaimer: SEGA owns the characters and stuff._

 _Chapter One: The Edge of Tomorrow_

"The charges are set, Knuckles."

"Good. Get out of there, Silver, and then we'll blow it to kingdom come! Meet us back at Base Three."

"Rodger…" The silver hedgehog nodded, and he pocketed his walkie-talkie. A group of soldiers stood behind him with weapons in hand. "Alright, men, you heard him. Let's move out."

The group started back through the large warehouse, sneaking around the robotic parts as they moved, creating more bots. The soullessness of the operation sent shivers down the hedgehog's spine, but he shook it off. The kids following him were too young and he shouldn't be showing weakness. Shadow was leading a team of more experience soldiers in the third sector against a more prominent target while they went after an unmanned warehouse. He looked behind him. To their credit, they weren't showing their fear, but he could feel it.

Silver's stomach dropped when he heard the heavy sound of metal feet walking on concrete. He held up his hand and the small group stopped behind him. He closed his eyes, but it was far too late. They knew the group was there. He turned to the group and offered them a small smile. He'd get them out of there.

The first robot came with guns blazing. Silver threw his hands up, halting the bullets in midair. "Run!" he shouted.

"But, Captain…"

"RUN!" Silver shouted again as he pushed the bullets back at the robot; but Eggman knew their games by now. The bullets bounced harmlessly on the robot. Silver cursed under his breath and ran after the group, but their exit was blocked off by several robots of varying size and capabilities. As some of his squad began firing uselessly, Silver tried ripping some of the robots apart. Some fell away, but most had a forcefield that was getting more and more difficult to destroy with each encounter.

"Knuckles," Silver called through the walkie-talkie.

"Go ahead!"

"We're under fire! Set them off!"

"Are you out of the building?"

Silver ducked behind a crate as one of his squad members fell with a bullet in his head. Silver clenched his fists. He wished he could do _anything_ , but years of fighting them had allowed the good doctor to learn how to counter everything that made them special. "It's been a pleasure, Knuckles," he said instead of answering.

"I'm not blowing that building up until you get out of there!"

"They'll find the charges if you wait and we'll die in vain!"

"Silver, I can't…"

"Yes you can!" Silver snapped, cutting off Knuckles' plea.

"If it isn't Silver the Hedgehog…"

Silver froze. This place wasn't supposed to be manned! He stood slowly. "Infinite…"

"Surprised to see me?"

"Mildly."

The masked creature lifted his hand. "You have been a thorn in Robotnik's side, my psychic friend. Shall I give you a nice illusion to fall to?"

Silver held up the walkie-talkie. "He's here Knuckles. Light 'em up."

"Silver—"

"Do it," he said.

Knuckles sighed on the other end. "It's been a pleasure…"

Silver closed his eyes as the sound of explosions tore through the building. Heat ripped through him and he clenched his fists. He might have been able to outrun the explosion, but he knew it would be better to die with his squad. When he opened his eyes, Infinite was gone. He had time to smile at the thought that they had at least destroyed the warehouse before the flames engulfed him.

* * *

"Damn it!" Shadow growled. He nearly crushed the com link in his hand. "Is there any chance of survivors?"

"I don't think so," Knuckles muttered. "You should head back. At least the Empire lost two targets today."

"It's not enough," Charmy muttered from behind Shadow, voicing his own thoughts.

"It's enough for now," Knuckles said. "Bring them home, Shadow."

"Roger…" Shadow kicked a rock and watched it fly. He ran his gloved hand over his quills with an annoyed hiss. If Silver was dead, then he was the last hedgehog in their ranks. "Charmy?"

"Yeah?" He looked over at the bee. The innocent and annoying child was gone. Like everyone else, he had to grow up too fast.

After the assessment, he forgot what he meant to say. "Nothing…" He started walking with his squad behind him. They had sent the smaller, less experienced group to that unmanned warehouse in order to make sure they made it home. They couldn't afford to lose their fresh soldiers. If anyone was supposed to die that day, it should have been him.

Charmy walked beside the black hedgehog. "You okay?"

"It's war," Shadow reasoned. "We lose people."

"You and he were close…" Charmy started, but stopped when Shadow lifted his hand. He didn't need a reminder of _why_ this was terrible.

"Doesn't matter now, I suppose," Shadow muttered.

Charmy tugged at his battle gear nervously. "We're… not going to win, are we?"

Shadow closed his eyes and clenched his fists. "No," he said. There was no point in lying anymore. Their days were numbered, and it was time they realized that all they were doing was annoying Eggman. Their dwindling fighting force was nothing more than a mere annoyance to Robotnik. They weren't a threat, they were flies buzzing around a meal; hard to kill, but relatively harmless. Charmy didn't speak again and Shadow felt a little annoyed at himself for being so blunt. The poor kid had just wanted some reassurance. But he didn't back down from his statement. "Tell Knuckles I'll be back later," Shadow said.

The bee looked up at him. "He won't like that."

"He can get over it," Shadow said. He didn't wait for Charmy to complain again. He simply took off running in another direction. If their platoon was attacked, then it wouldn't matter anyway. Eggman knew how to fight them… he knew how to counter them. There wasn't anything they could do at this point.

Shadow didn't stop running until he was standing in the middle of a barren wasteland. This no mans zone had been where their first strong hold had been. It was also the site of the first bomb. Shadow kicked a piece of metal with a twin tailed emblem on it. "Tails…" he muttered. He picked up the metal and sighed. If the brat hadn't disappeared, they might not have lost everything. Shadow clenched his fist and hurled the emblem.

"Shadow, come back."

Shadow sighed. He had thought he turned that off. "I'll be back soon. Did they get back."

"Yes, no thanks to you," Knuckles snapped. "We can't afford to lose you, too. Get your spiny butt back here!"

"I'll come back later."

"Shadow, I know Silver wa—"

Shadow turned off the commlink, cutting off Knuckles' response. Why did they all think he and Silver were any better friends than the others? Was it because they were both hedgehogs? Shadow scoffed. They were doomed, and it didn't matter who else died before they surrendered. Wouldn't surrender be the best option at this point? Maybe if they laid down their arms, Eggman would let them live out the rest of their worthless lives in peace as robots or something. He turned back towards the smog-covered city. Was this world really worth saving at this point?

Shadow stopped walking upon hearing footsteps on the sandy, but hard ground. He cocked his head. There shouldn't be anyone out there. This place had been deemed uninhabitable and even Eggman had abandoned the wasteland after the bomb fell. Shadow lifted his handheld device, a modified and more advanced version of the Miles Electric, and it revealed that whatever was walking ahead of him had a heat signature.

Shadow turned his comm back on. "Knuckles…" he whispered.

"Are you ready to come back?" Knuckles asked, annoyed.

"Shut up," Shadow hissed.

"Oh…" he seemed to understand. "What's up?"

"There's something out here in Ground Zero."

"What? Why are you out there?"

Shadow shook his head. "That doesn't matter. What does matter is why the heck someone _else_ is out here."

"Some _one?_ " Knuckles asked. "It's not a robot?"

"It has a heat signature."

"Get out of there," Knuckles said urgently. "Come back and we'll assess the situation."

"No one should be out here, Knux."

"Exactly, and that is exactly why I'm not authorizing you to check it out."

Shadow sighed, but he knew that if they regrouped, whatever it was might be gone when they came back. "It might just be a wild dog or something that wandered out here… I'm going."

"Don't you dare!"

Shadow ignored him and walked towards the heat signature.

"Shadow! Come back!"

Shadow narrowed his eyes and turned off the commlink to stop Knuckles' annoying chatter. When he got to a boulder, he ducked behind it and moved to peek around it. When he saw what it was, he froze, unable to move. There, in front of him, was a twin-tailed fox. "T-Tails…?!"

The fox turned. "Shadow?"

Shadow stepped out of hiding and looked at the fox. He was still the same age he had been the last time Shadow saw him. "You… you're alive…!" He stepped forward, but stopped before taking a couple cautious steps back. This couldn't be real, could it? "And you haven't aged a day!"

Tails cocked his head. "What are you talking about? Where are we?"

Shadow swallowed. "This is Ground Ze—" he cut off his response. No one had called it by its real name since the bomb had dropped. "This is the Mystic Ruins."

Tails blinked. "What? That can't be! We're standing in a dessert." He looked around and Shadow could almost hear the memories of the lush green forest that had once been there. Now, nothing remained but barren, cracked earth and a section of the train tracks.

"Yes, we are…" Shadow looked at Tails. He was still the eight year old boy that had disappeared. "You're dead…"

Tails' ears twitched in confusion. "What?" he asked again.

"You died… Ten years ago…" Tails took a step back. Shadow gestured to the wasteland, staring up at the brick section of the tracks that still remained. It was a bitter reminder of what had been. "You disappeared, and Sonic went looking for you, and never came back. Then the world fell!" He turned on the fox. "Where have you been?!" His last sentence was a shout. It was wrong to blame Tails for any of this, but they all knew that if Sonic hadn't disappeared looking for Tails, then Eggman never would have come back from his crushing defeat so quickly. He wouldn't have been emboldened by Sonic's absence. "You've been gone for ten years, Tails! Eggman took everything! The world has fallen! Silver…" Shadow broke off, annoyed that he seemed to care as much as he did. "…is dead!"

Tails took another step back. "What…?" was all the child could say, but Shadow wasn't done.

" _Sonic_ is dead!"

They hadn't actually confirmed Sonic's death, but it was obvious that if he wasn't dead, he was captured. Ten years was a long time to stay missing. Tails whimpered softly and tears welled up in his eyes. Shadow rolled his eyes and turned on the commlink, feeling slightly guilty for making Tails cry, but also feeling vindicated in his actions. "Knuckles… you aren't going to believe this…"

There was static and then a very annoyed voice. "Shadow, I don't have time to deal with you! You better be dying, or in trouble to contact me after that little stunt! I will deal with you harshly when you get back to the base!"

"Shut up," Shadow snapped. "I… found Tails."

The silence that followed was palpable. Shadow didn't move and he imagined Knuckles' dumbfounded expression. "Are… are you sure? It's not an illusion?"

"Infinite's not here. There's nothing else here."

"Infinite…? I thought he was gone," Tails said.

"Is that him?" Knuckles gasped. "I haven't heard that voice in so long…" He sighed. "Bring him back, Shadow."

"Rodger…" He looked up at the fox. "Let's go." He started forward and Tails followed without speaking. He knew Tails had questions, and Shadow had more, but he knew Knuckles would want to ask those questions. Shadow didn't want to hear the answers twice.

"Hey, so…" Tails started sheepishly. Shadow rolled his eyes. He had already made the choice to dodge every question the fox threw at him. "Do you guys need this…?"

Shadow turned to Tails to tell him to keep his mouth shut and inhaled sharply. In his hands was the blue Chaos Emerald. Shadow snatched the thing away from Tails and held it, feeling the power in it. It was real. They hadn't been able to locate the seventh emerald, and now he knew why. "How…?" He shook his head. "Never mind. You can explain everything to Knuckles."

The two lapsed into silence again and Shadow led them through the dark city. He looked at Tails as the kid stared at the horrific changes made to the city. They were stationed in what was left of Station Square. It was one of the few places that didn't have robotic guards every few feet. Surely Eggman was smart enough to know that was where they had set up shop, but it might be some sort of game for him.

Luckily, they didn't come across anything that would halt their progress and Shadow led them into a sewer grate and they descended into the depths. "This is the base?"

"Yeah, well, we haven't been able to get five-star accommodations," Shadow grumbled.

"That's not what I meant…"

"Hush…"

"Look, Shadow..."

"No," Shadow snapped, " _you_ look! All this could…" He stopped his tirade with a snort. There was no point in blowing up on Tails here. That could wait until the entire resistance was there. After typing in a password and letting a machine scan his eyes, he opened the door to the base. "I'm back!"

Knuckles was the first to appear and Tails gasped when the echidna stepped forward. "Knux…" Shadow looked away. Knuckles had a retrofitted robotic eye, arm and leg. In fact, his entire left side had been roboticized. Tails ran to Knuckles and the two embraced.

"Tails… you haven't aged a day…" Knuckles whispered. "Where have you been?"

Tails shook his head. "What happened to you?"

"That doesn't matter. Where have you been?" Knuckles repeated.

"I was working on a way to stop the dimension hopping," Tails said. "It was a small experiment. The original Sonic comes here, so I wanted to know how and why… I built a machine, and I hadn't meant to send myself through, but there was an explosion, I think… I woke up in Green Hill, but I was only there for a couple hours, I swear!" He was almost in tears at that point. "What happened?!"

Knuckles closed his eye and sighed. "When you disappeared, Sonic went looking for you and never came back… We couldn't find the last Chaos Emerald, and it didn't matter anyway. We couldn't counter the Phantom Rubies this time… not without Sonic." He shook his head. "We lost the war. This is our last stronghold… Base Three."

Tails stepped away from Knuckles and put his hand to his mouth. "And you?"

"We did what we could," Shadow said, stepping forward. "When the first bomb dropped, he was crushed under some rubble. We found him near death and did what we could. We didn't have you, but we managed. He wasn't too happy when he woke up, though…"

"Shadow…" Knuckles scolded. "Please…"

"No, he deserves to know what you went through!" Shadow said. "You would rather we had let you die, isn't that right?"

"Now's not the time for this…"

Shadow ignored him and looked at Tails. "He hated us, you know. He would have rather be dead than be a robot! Well, I guess we really screwed up by saving him, didn't we?" Shadow scoffed. "Can't say I blame him, to be honest. What's the point? To watch the entire world crumble into a heap a metal and blood? I guess death would have been better, wouldn't it?" He waved his hand, annoyed.

"That's enough, Shadow. This isn't Tails' fault."

Shadow shook his head. He had more to say, but he knew no matter what he said it wouldn't make any of this better or make any of it go away. "Welcome back, Miles," he snapped and stormed out of the main room, locking himself in his own bunk room. No one came after him. They all knew to give him the space he needed. He pulled his legs to his chest and pulled out the Chaos Emerald that Tails had brought back with him. It was all they had. Eggman, over the years, had gathered the other ones, leaving them with nothing but their wits… and that had clearly not been enough.

Shadow hurled the gem against the concrete wall and flinched when it sparked as it clattered to the ground. Tails' return was too little, too late at this point.

There was a knock on the door. "Go away… I'll apologize to Knuckles later."

"There's no need to apologize to me," Knuckles said from the door frame. Shadow turned away. "It's been a rough day for all of us, Shadow, but maybe… with Tails back…"

"All his reappearance will do is embolden us with false hope and then more will die. You and I discussed surrender yesterday, Knuckles, and I'm assuming that conversation is off the table now. We have kids in our ranks that have only grown up in this reign."

Knuckles walked into the room. Shadow's ears twitched at the mechanical whirring of his robotic parts. Over the years, he had gotten used to the sound, but now it seemed louder and more menacing. "There _is_ hope, Shadow."

"Look around you!" Shadow snapped. "Where is this magical hope that you summon out of nothing? We're down to a mere 50 soldiers and you think we can win a damned war like this? Eggman can create an army at will now, and Tails being here won't change that. Him being here won't magically make Sonic come back, or give us the other Chaos emeralds or manage to counter Infinite."

"I _have_ hope," Knuckles said. "Hope that we can win this thing if we keep working at it."

Shadow shook his head and he listed the ones they had lost. "Amy, Vector, Mighty, Fang, Sonic… Silver…"

"Rouge…" Knuckles whispered.

That wasn't even involving the nameless soldiers that Shadow hadn't even taken the time to know their faces. "How many more?"

"As many as it takes," Knuckles said. "We can't let them die in vain!"

"So we're going to send more to their deaths? We'd be no better than G.U.N if we do that!"

"G.U.N fought dirty…"

"And they fell all the same," Shadow said. "You don't have a plan, do you? You just want us to keep trying to destroy his facilities until we're all dead."

"No," Knuckles said. "If we're going out, we're going out with a bang. Our next target is Eggmanland."

Shadow blinked. "That's insane! You want to infiltrate his most guarded stronghold?"

"Yes. Now that we have Tails, we have something that Eggman doesn't know about."

"He's been gone for ten years. He doesn't know enough about the war to even start."

"But he can modify our technology… _my_ technology. And maybe, just maybe, if we can figure out how to send him back to his time, he can prevent this, but to do that, we need Infinite."7

Shadow sighed. It was a long shot, but if Knuckles wanted to go out with guns blazing, then who was he to stop him. "Alright, you crazy Echidna… One last mission?"

Knuckles nodded. "Either we win this one, or we die trying."


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: Should I have warned y'all that this story is dark...? Should that have been a thing that happened? Yeah, this ain't a bright one!_

 _Chapter Two: Simple Curiosity_

Silver was not expecting to wake up. He had been fully prepared to die with his squad. Either survival instinct had forced him to throw up a force field to protect his body, or Infinite had wanted a prisoner. Either way, Silver opened his eyes to the bright white light of a chamber. He was strapped down with his hands unable to move.

"We're so glad you've graced us with your presence."

"The pleasure is all mine, Doctor," Silver said through clenched teeth. His eyes darted around the room, but he didn't see the man. Clearly Eggman was not confident enough in the abilities of his restraints or else he'd be gloating to Silver's face.

"The last of your petty rebellion remains a minor annoyance, and I'd like to wipe them out at the earliest convenience. If you could be so kind as to tell me where they are, that would be a great help to me."

Silver smiled. He knew that Eggman knew their base was set up in Station Square, but he most likely was unsure where. Eggman was probably not in the mood to completely obliterate the entire city in the off chance that he would kill those who remained. He smiled. "My name is Silver the Hedgehog," he started, "my number is 132."

Eggman sighed. "Yes, yes! If you tell me where they are, I'll let you live."

"My name is…" Electricity coursed through his body. The pain was so unexpected that he let loose a howl as his muscles contracted. The shock ended just as quickly as it had started. "Silver… the hedgehog…" he continued.

"He will not break, Doctor," Infinite said. "Shall I _convince_ him?"

"This one is more immune to your powers," Eggman said, "but you may if you so desire."

The masked creature walked into the room through a small door. "Hello, my psychic friend," he said. "If you cooperate, then this will go so much easier for you. Just tell us where the Resistance is, Silver, and we all can go on our merry ways. Perhaps even your little friends will be allowed to live."

Silver stared down at the scarred and beaten mask. He had put a few dents in that thing. "My name is Silver…"

Infinite laughed, cutting him off. "You think you can fight this? We'll get the answer out of you one way or the other! We have all the time in the world and you're just prolonging your suffering. Perhaps you should give us what we need."

"I'd rather die."

"I know you would… When we're done with you, you will wish you were dead." Silver braced himself, but Infinite shook his head. "No, not now, but soon."

"What are you doing?"

"Wearing him down, Doctor. Take him to his cell."

A couple robots came in at his command and unstrapped Silver. "You know, Infinite, sometimes I wonder who is _really_ in charge of this operation," the hedgehog muttered.

Infinite laughed quietly. "I don't."

The robots dragged Silver out of the room and into a small, secluded cell. He shrugged and walked to a corner. "Well, I have to give them credit for not putting me near the other prisoners," he mused. He sat down and fiddled with his gloves. He needed a way to contact Knuckles. Escaping wasn't going to work. He had to make the most of being a prisoner here. He was, in fact, _in_ Eggmanland after all. They had been trying to infiltrate it for years and Eggman had never taken prisoners of the higher profile, preferring to kill those so they didn't have time to escape. Perhaps he really was feeling the pressure if he had taken such a high profile prisoner.

"And they think I'm dead," Silver said. That actually worked to his advantage. There would be no doomed rescue attempts. He felt bad about hiding it from them, and he needed to at least let one of them know he was still alive, but he also needed a way to contact them without giving Eggman a way to track the signal.

What didn't work to his advantage was that the cell was surrounded by the same force field that Eggman had equipped his robots with, preventing him from using his powers to escape. Silver sighed. What could they possibly do to get him to talk? Ten years had hardened him and he'd rather kill himself than give away their location. He put his hands behind his head with a grunt. It wouldn't hurt to get some rest. He imagined that over the next few days, he and Infinite were going to become good friends.

* * *

Tails held the smaller version of the Miles Electric in his hands, moving the device around to get a better look at it. It wasn't bad. He could have done better, but whatever mechanic they now had on staff had done a fair job at it. When the sound of metal footsteps hit him, Tails flinched. "Hey, kiddo…" Knuckles said quietly. Tails didn't look up. "Don't worry about Shadow, okay? He's just been through a lot…"

"How many?" Tails asked without looking. "How many are dead?"

"Let's not worry about that right now," Knuckles tried.

"No. I want to know."

The mattress shifted as Knuckles sat down in the bed beside him. He sighed. "Amy died not long after Sonic disappeared. Eggman had set up a small fortress outside of Westopolis. We figured that _somehow_ he managed to kidnap both of you. It was a quick raid. We walked into a trap and basically faced a firing squad. Rogue died not long after that in an attempt to go undercover. Infinite found her out and we never heard from her again… A lot died in the bombing of the Mystic Ruins and Vector…" His voice cut off and then he laughed. Tails turned to him with a concerned expression. "I'm sorry… I can't remember how Vector died…"

Tails pulled his knees to his chest, fighting back tears as he tried to process the information. "And Silver?"

"Died this morning," Knuckles said in such a blunt way that Tails flinched. "His squad got caught in an explosion."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Knuckles said. "Despite what Shadow says, it's not your fault that this happened. You said you were only gone a couple hours. You didn't know that this would happen."

Tails finally turned to Knuckles. The robotic parts looked decent enough, but it still made him sick to see his friend as part robot.

"It's not so bad," Knuckles said.

"I could probably upgrade it… maybe make it a bit more like flesh, if you want."

"Maybe some other time…" Knuckles said. "Right now, Tails, we need to defeat Eggman. For good… and we can't do that without you. You are the one thing that Eggman isn't expecting. He's spent all his time developing ways to counter us, but not you. It's been ten years, even. He might have forgotten how to fight you."

Tails looked down at the Miles Electric and ran his hand over the small screen. "Is Sonic dead?"

"I don't think we need to focus on if he's dead or not."

"Do you think he's still alive?"

Knuckles sighed. "No, I don't," he said. "It's been ten years, Tails… If he's still alive, where would he be? I don't want to be pessimistic about it, but I also want to be realistic. We can't afford to sit around thinking that he could be alive and then wait for him."

"What about the other Sonic?"

"Did you bring him back with you?" Knuckles asked. Tails shook his head. "Then we're on our own." Tails fell back on the bed. Was Knuckles asking him to die? That seemed like a very real possibility, and he wasn't sure he could blame him if that was what was expected. "Tails, I know this is a lot to take in. We've had years to get used to this new reality, and you've only had a couple hours, but we don't have time to let you get to understand this. Eggman could find this base at any time, or just nuke the city if he gets desperate enough."

Tails closed his eyes. It wasn't like that would be the first time Eggman would have tried to bomb the heck out of Station Square. Tails sat up. "What's the plan?"

A few minutes later, Tails was standing in what looked like an operation room. Monitors were set up, showing the world and what it had turned in to. "Where's Westopolis?"

"That's Eggmanland now," Knuckles said with a shrug. "And we're going to infiltrate it… but we can't just rush in"

"Eggman's gotten extremely efficient at keeping us at bay."

Tails turned to see Espio standing in the doorway with Charmy standing behind him, smiling. Tails could almost laugh. The bee was no longer the kid he had once known. The urge to smile vanished at the thought that Vector was dead and Knuckles didn't even remember how he died.

"So, what's he been doing?" Tails asked.

"Heat tracking to counter my invisibility, force fields to counter Silver's telepathy, bullet-proof metals to protect his robots, a crush-proof weaving in the metal to counter Knuckles' punches and robots that hit Mach speeds to fight Shadow," Espio said. "Over-all, he's gotten better at this game and without a mechanic, we haven't been able to counter."

"We _have_ a mechanic," Charmy interrupted. "She's just not as good as Tails, ya'know?"

"She?"

"Yep. You'll meet her soon enough," Knuckles said. "But for now, we need to figure out a plan."

"I need to know what we're dealing with," Tails said. "I want one of Eggman's robots."

Espio looked at Knuckles. "That's a hard order, kid. Not many of us can take one down single-handedly anymore."

Knuckles nodded. "But Tails needs to know what he's fighting."

"Then send him."

"I can't. We can't let Eggman know that he's back. If we do, he'll upgrade the bots quicker."

Espio sighed. "I suppose that means I have to head out, doesn't it?"

"If you don't mind," Knuckles said with a roll of his eyes.

Espio grumbled something and then headed out of the room with Charmy running off behind him. "Will he be okay?"

"He'll be fine," Knuckles said. "It'll be easy to get a single robot here, don't worry. Come on, then, let's go meet that mechanic." Tails followed Knuckles through the base. His ears fell flat as they walked through because some of the other animals glared hard at him. "Ignore them."

"Easier said than done…" Tails muttered.

Knuckles led him into a small workshop. "Kyte," he called. "Someone's here to see you!"

There was the sound of metal shifting and then their mechanic stepped out into the open. She appeared to be a dog. Most of her body was covered in tactical gear and what little fur could be seen on her face was stained with grease. Through the grease, though, he saw that her fur was light grey. "Oh… Oh my! Miles Prower?" she gasped. Her tail wagged happily. She grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously. "It's a pleasure, Mr. Prower!" Tails looked at Knuckles, concerned. He shrugged. "I hope you don't mind what I did to the Miles Electric. It was a stroke of genius, but it needed some upgrades."

"N-no, It's alright," Tails said sheepishly. "I haven't had a chance to properly look at it, but I think that it'll be fine." He looked around the workshop. The dog, Kyte, seemed to be pretty good at mechanics. And then he noticed her legs. They were robotic. He turned back to Knuckles.

"Some of us are just lucky to be alive," he said.

"It's nothing," Kyte said.

"Eggman got a hold of her and roboticized her," Knuckles explained.

"Yeah, but I got better, and now I help out here!" She handed Tails another hand held. "See, these are the changes I made!" She launched into an explanation of the new and improved Miles Electric and Tails tried to keep up with a lot of the new lingo used around technology. He was beginning to realize that ten years was an eternity in the technological world.

Knuckles stepped forward just when Tails thought his head might explode from all the new information. "Thank you, Kyte, but I think Tails needs to rest. He's had a big day."

"Yessir!" Kyte said with a quick salute. Knuckles smiled at her. "And, welcome back, Tails." She bowed slightly to him. "I mean it when I say it's good to have you back."

"I… look forward to working with you," Tails muttered. He followed Knuckles out of the workshop and back into the bunks. "I don't know, Knux… They seem to hate me, and the ones that don't hate me are putting this whole operation into my hands."

"Having you back may give them the hope we've needed," Knuckles said. "I'm not saying that we're going to _win_ , Tails, but I am saying that we are going to try. We have to get you back to your time so you can prevent this all from happening."

"Yeah…" Tails closed his eyes and put his head on his knees. Knuckles didn't say a word for a while and the two sat in silence. "I'm sorry…"

"There's no need to apologize," Knuckles assured him.

Tails wanted to argue, but he didn't have it in him. All this was too much for him to handle. Not even a day ago, everything was fine. They had just won a war and they were celebrating their victory over the Eggman Empire. Things were going back to normal… And now, it was ten years later and they were fighting another war, and losing miserably.

Knuckles stood and left him alone in the room once he started crying.

* * *

Everything was going perfectly. They only had a few small sectors that weren't there's and then the world would finally fall completely. Infinite stared out of the window at the robotic city below. Eggmanland, he called it. It was a silly name for a silly goal, but what truly was to be expected from a ridiculous man child?

Defeating the rest of the Resistance should be easier than the ridiculous hoops they were jumping through. If they could just kill that last Echidna, the entire operation would fall apart. More than Shadow, Knuckles was keeping what little remained of their ragtag group of heroes together. Without him, they would have no focal point or reason for being. The only reason they kept fighting was to keep the memory of that annoying blue hedgehog and his fox friend alive. What ever happened to Tails anyway? Infinite shrugged at his own question. He supposed they may never find out.

"There you are."

Infinite sighed and turned to the man. "Yes, Doctor?"

"I thought you'd be torturing that annoying hedgehog."

"Patience." Infinite said. "If we overwhelm him too quickly, he will shatter. We simply want to crack him and let him bleed, not destroy him."

"Speak for yourself," Eggman snapped.

Infinite stifled the urge to roll his eyes. "You may torture the annoyance as you wish _after_ we get what we need from him."

"I don't know why you are so eager to kill them all. They are hardly a threat to us anymore."

"But one day, they _may_ become more than just an annoyance. If you do not want you reign challenged, then we must kill them all, and we should not wait until that day comes to break them. They are weak now. We should not let up on them for the sake of "playing fair" as you call it."

Eggman sighed, but didn't argue the point, much to Infinite's relief. "Do as you wish, then, Infinite."

"I shall." He said. _It's not like I need your permission, Doctor._ He started away from the window, leaving Eggman to stare out the window at the empire he had built. Infinite had built it alongside the man, but it wasn't his dream. His dream was to kill the rest of them and then live out the rest of his life in peace. It didn't matter if his peace was in the Eggman Empire or not. He was over this stupid war. "Doctor."

"What?"

"I think it's time we brought out the weapon."

"It's not ready."

"I will _make_ it ready." Eggman frowned. "Oh, don't tell me you are getting nostalgic, Doctor."

"Nonsense. Do what you think is best. We can't afford to stumble at the finish line."

Infinite laughed. "Doctor, do you really think we're still running a tight race? We gained the lead years ago and now we're just lapping them. We just need to get them off the course now and end this rat race." He looked back at the man and smirked behind his mask when he saw Eggman's face. Infinite knew that sometimes he scared the Doctor. Eggman was, for all his ridiculous evil tendencies, a kinder person than it really took to rule the world with an iron fist. Infinite didn't doubt his abilities, but he also didn't think that Eggman had the heart for slaughter most of the time. If he did, their weapon would have been deployed by now.

He got into the elevator and ended in the middle floor where they were keeping Silver. "Hello, psychic."

"You know, people _do_ have names," Silver said.

"I know. Come with me."

Silver stood. "Oh, goody! Are we going back to the interrogation room?"

"No," Infinite said in the most deadpan way possible. He stepped into the cell and cuffed Silver around the wrists and ankles to keep him from running and using his powers.

"So, where are we going?"

"You will see."

Silver walked a little faster to walk beside his captor. "I mean, if you don't want to call me by my real name, you can call me by my fur color…"

"You think you are funny?"

"No, but humor is a good way to get through a bad situation," Silver said.

"I suppose." Infinite looked down at his feet. "But humor won't help you here. This war is won, my friend, and nothing that you do here will change that. I would apologize, but I feel like lying at this point would be superfluous."

"Did Eggman but a thesaurus in you?"

Infinite shoved Silver into the elevator and pressed the bottom floor. "No," he said after a few minutes.

"No?"

"Eggman didn't program a thesaurus in me, I just read a lot while I'm in here between killing you all."

Silver chuckled nervously. "Well… Okay, then…" The ride down might have been awkward to Infinite if he cared, but he didn't. But Silver was shifting uncomfortably beside him. To his credit, the hedgehog was smart enough not to try and attack him in the elevator. Infinite was glad for that. He didn't want to have to kill Silver too early.

The elevator dinged, and they stepped out into the dark corridors. They had one thing down there. Silver was a lot more subdued in the catacombs. He must have known that something terrible was waiting for him.

Infinite walked up to a metal door and slammed on it. "You have a visitor."

Silver stepped forward and peeked into the small, barred window. "I don't see anything," he said.

Infinite slammed on the door again, harder this time. Mechanical movements came from inside the room and a single red eye came from the shadows. Infinite smiled. In the blink of an eye, the thing inside rushed forward and a mechanical arm reached through the bars with an almost unearthly, robotic snarl. Silver jumped back, but his eyes widened in the realization. He ran back towards the door, but the prisoner had retreated back into the darkness.

Silver dropped to his knees and put his head on the metal door with a pained moan. Infinite crossed his arms and looked back into the room. The cyborg had been nearly driven mad. Infinite looked down at Silver and smirked. "Ten years without seeing the sun, thinking everyone was dead, and unable to run does things to a hedgehog, doesn't it?"

"You monster…"

Infinite laughed. "What? No jokes? Personally, I thought you would be happy… Your hero is still alive."


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter_ _Three: Follow My Plan Instead_

Espio was slightly more than annoyed by the turn of events, but he didn't say as much as he and Charmy walked through the desolate Station Square. Why did Knuckles think that Tails being back would change _anything_? All it did was give them false hope for a better future without any foundation. Sure, with Tails back they may stand a slightly better chance, but what wasn't to their advantage was to think that Tails was going to be their savior. They couldn't put all of their hope on the kid. "He's getting desperate," Espio grumbled.

"Can you blame him? With Tails back, we may actually stand a chance!"

"Double of one is still only two," Espio said.

"I was never good at math," Charmy muttered.

"Doesn't seem like Knuckles is very good at it, either."

Charmy shrugged and the two walked through the streets. There wasn't much left as far as inhabitants of Station Square, but when they did come across some people, they were merely glared at as if this was their fault. Espio wanted to tell them all where they could shove it because at least their dwindling group of animals had actually fought. It was a human that had done all of this, after all.

Espio cocked his gun and got near a building before peering around the corner in an alleyway. There was a robot there, searching the walls for a secret entrance. Espio sighed. At least it seemed that the stupid bots had no idea where to even begin looking for their crew. He looked at the walls of the alleyway and then nodded to Charmy. The two didn't even have to speak. Espio concealed the weapon and then turned invisible while Charmy hovered in the entrance.

After Espio had snuck into the alley, Charmy called out to the robot. "Hey, bucket of bolts! I got a message for your creator!"

The robot spun to scan the bee while Espio crawled on the walls. The robots had a weak point, but it was hard to pinpoint it, especially in the heat of battle. As the robot lifted his gunned arm towards Charmy, Espio dropped from the walls above and shot the robot through the head. It let out a loud sound of protest and grabbed Espio off its back, hurling him hard into the wall, cracking it. Espio turned invisible as the bot spun on him and he ducked behind a dumpster to avoid the rain of bullets that came for him.

A bullet ripped through his shoulder, but he gritted his teeth against the pain. There would be time to mourn the loss of blood later. Before the bot could continue turning the dumpster into Swiss cheese, Charmy came at it, stinging it where Espio had already damaged it. It shook off the bee and Charmy took to the sky to avoid the bullets.

Espio cursed. The longer it took to take this one down, the closer they would come to facing more of them. He was sure that a distress signal had already been sent, and if the bot had identified them as part of the Resistance, they could very well be facing Infinite or Eggman himself. If they didn't need to robot intact, this would be a lot easier, since they had already pierced the armor, but a destroyed robot would be meaningless to Tails.

Espio jumped out from him hiding place and latched himself onto the robot's gun arm, holding on to it tightly. The robot flailed wildly as Espio crawled back onto the bot's back. "Sorry Tails, you aren't getting one that's perfectly intact." He shoved his gun into the hole that Charmy had made bigger and fired several shots into it. The robot stuttered and jerked for a moment before collapsing. Espio wiped his brow. "These things are getting harder to kill," he muttered.

Charmy landed beside him. "Your arm…"

"Forget it. We have to get out of here before this thing's friends come looking for it." He and Charmy dragged the robot to a manhole and shoved it in before following after. They would have to be careful in the sewers, as Eggman had been smart enough to put up surveillance down there. But as they passed a camera, Espio sighed. It seemed that Eggman had been a bit too busy with other things to upkeep the cameras down below. "We should probably move base soon," Espio said.

"Why?"

"Eggman probably knows how lax security has gotten in Station Square. He knows we're here, he just doesn't know where yet."

"So you want to move to a more secure location?"

Espio nodded. "He'd never see it coming. If we set up base in Metropolis, we might have a better chance of going unseen."

"I doubt Knuckles would go for it," Charmy said. Espio shrugged with his good shoulder. "Though, maybe he'd be more willing to initiate the change now that Tails is here."

"Tails being here doesn't change that much," Espio said. "Except instead of fifty soldiers, we now have fifty-one."

"One drop raises the ocean!"

Espio rolled his eyes. "You get that from a fortune cookie?"

"Movie," Charmy admitted.

"Yeah, well, we're going to need a lot more drops to raise this ocean over the levy…"

"Or a really big storm!"

"Or that…" Espio muttered. He wasn't following the conversation anymore. He was just now regretting his choice not to bandage his arm, but he didn't want to worry Charmy by asking for a break.

"But… where would the wind come from…? If the "town" being protected by the levy is Eggman, and the levy is the war, what's the wind…?"

"Tails," Espio muttered.

"But, Tails is the drop."

"This metaphor is falling apart, Charmy…"

The two fell into silence as they snuck around the corners and kept out of the sight of still working cameras. By the time they made it back to the base, Espio thought he was going to pass out, but he held it together. Charmy had already seen one of his teammates fall dead, and Espio wasn't about to let that happen again.

When the doors opened, a few of the others rushed out to help drag the robot inside. "Hey, Charmy, go help them, okay?"

Charmy looked at him, concerned, but then nodded and hurried after the group. Knuckles appeared a few moments later. "Well, you look awful."

"Just a gunshot to the arm. I've survived worse," Espio said. "But, I didn't want Charmy to see me pass out."

"Are you going to?"

Espio nodded and the movement of his head sent it swimming. He didn't feel the ground when he hit it.

* * *

"How's Espio?"

"He'll live," Knuckles said. Tails sighed in relief and got back to autopsy on the robot. "What about that thing? Think you can do anything with it?"

Tails shrugged. "Eggman's certainly gotten better, but not quite good enough." He looked down at the robotic parts. "Like that force field… I know he's gone, but I could come up with things that can pass through the field."

"Please. Those things have been the bane of our existence for years."

"Isn't he amazing?" Kyte asked.

Knuckles laughed quietly. "I suppose. Do you need anything?"

Tails shook his head. "No… I want to work on fixing and reprograming this one first. Maybe if I can get a handle on the robotics, we can send this one back as a decoy."

Knuckles smiled. "Eggman wouldn't see that coming."

"That's what I'm counting on. If we can come up with a way to infiltrate in only a way I know how, then we could completely catch him off guard."

"It won't work," Shadow muttered. They looked over at the door as the black hedgehog stepped in.

"Quit being such a pessimist," Knuckles said.

"I'm not. I'm being a realist. The moment the ruse is discovered, Eggman will know Tails is here."

"If we aren't going to use his tactics then what's the point of him being here?" Knuckles asked.

"We need to learn to counter Eggman, not infiltrate just yet," Shadow explained. "and when we do infiltrate, it can't be through robotics. They are too unreliable. I propose another option."

"Oh?"

"Let me get captured."

Knuckles laughed at the suggestion and Tails simply got back to work. He knew Knuckles would never allow such a ridiculous scheme. "You're funny, Shadow."

"I'm not being funny. Did you forget the _other_ thing we have that Eggman doesn't know about?" He held up the Chaos Emerald. "Now I can fight better, and he won't see it coming. If you guys want to get inside, then you need a living, breathing creature. I said I'd do this mission, Knuckles, but right now we don't have a good enough plan. This could be our only chance."

"They don't take prisoners," Knuckles said.

"Yeah, but we just destroyed a warehouse and a plant. Eggman might take that as us gaining ground, which means he might be more willing to take me prisoner to get our location."

Tails saw the brilliance in the scheme, but at the same time, he was worried about where this could potentially lead them. "What if we sent someone else?"

Knuckles sighed. "Eggman would be less inclined to kill Shadow," he said quietly. "He makes a lot of sense…"

"Then we need to make a bug and a way to keep track of him while he's in the base."

"I've got something!" Kyte called.

Tails sighed. He didn't like it, but if they wanted to win, they had to play dirty.

* * *

The screams were horrific, but Infinite was used to them. Silver, however, was not. He had kept their prisoner in the catacombs to listen to Sonic's pained howls as he underwent the mind-melting torture needed to break him down so completely. Silver was sitting in the back of his cell, mumbling some chant, or incoherent prayer in an attempt to drown out the shrieks.

Infinite stood and stopped the torture, ending the screams. Too much at one time would desensitize him. "Are you ready to talk, Silver?"

"Go to hell."

Infinite sighed. "I suppose not. No worries. I can wait."

"You _will_ fall," Silver snapped.

"Will I?"

"We defeated you once."

"No, no… Your hero defeated me, but he's been my prisoner for years. He is mine now, not yours, and when I unleash him on this world, nothing will remain."

Silver looked away. "Why do you even need him?"

"Personal satisfaction, mostly," Infinite admitted. "Should I have any other reason? I don't _need_ him, but I might as well have him. I'm just saving him for when you finally reveal the location of your resistance! I want the last thing they see to be his face!"

"I'll never talk."

Infinite narrowed his eyes. "Oh, you _will_ talk, my psychic friend… It's just a matter of how long you can hold out…" He lifted a hand, but was cut off by the PA system.

"Infinite, I need you at the bridge."

Infinite rolled his eyes. "You got lucky this time, Silver…" He turned and got into the elevator, taking it to the top floor observatory. "Yes, Doctor?" he asked as he stepped outside.

"One of my robots is missing."

"You called me up here because you lost a robot?" He sat down on the railing and stared at the city. "The Resistance probably got caught by one and killed it."

"Except the body is physically missing," Eggman said.

That peaked his interest. "Oh? They stole a robot? How strange. Why would they do that?"

"I don't know. Patterns indicate that they usually like to leave the rubble to try and make us quiver. This is the first time in years they've actively taken a robot."

Infinite sighed. That could mean a number of things. Perhaps they now thought that they had a mechanic who could make a difference. And that meant it was time for him to go out into Station Square. "I don't see why you just don't bomb the city. A few civilian lives aren't worth the hassle."

"I would bomb it if we knew for a fact that they were there, but we don't."

"I suppose." He jumped off the railing. "Shall I take anything with me?"

"No," Eggman said, clearly guessing what Infinite wanted to do. "The less people know about Sonic being here, the better."

"Right." He left the building without making any stops and headed as quickly as possible to Station Square. By the time he made it there, it was almost sunrise. There was very little activity happening in the city, though he supposed to could be due to the fact that no one was dumb enough to challenge him out in the open… Or so he thought.

The kick came out of nowhere and was so unexpected that he was sent flying sideways into a building. "Well, well… If it isn't Shadow the Hedgehog," he said. "Come to avenge your fellow hedgehog brethren?"

Shadow didn't speak. Instead, he lunged forward, and Infinite teleported out of the way, allowing Shadow to run past him. It seemed his adversary wasn't in the mood to talk, which was fine with him. The two lunged at each other and clashed.

The resulting conflict only lasted a couple of blows before Shadow was thrown to the ground. The asphalt cracked beneath him and Shadow didn't move. "Well, well, well… What should I do with you? Kill you?" He chuckled. "I don't think the Doctor would be too pleased with me if I did that. He has a soft spot for you, you know."

He smiled underneath his mask. If he had Shadow, he could torture all three of the hedgehogs until one of them spilled the location of the Resistance.

"No, you're coming with me." He lifted the hedgehog in his arms. Shadow struggled angrily against his captor, but Infinite hit him hard on the head, knocking him out. "This is one step closer to finally being rid of the resistance… And then I will be the strongest…"

* * *

Shadow woke with a splitting headache.

"Oh, look, the hedgehog is awake."

Shadow closed his eyes tighter. "Shadow…" That was Tails' voice coming through the commlink they had implanted in him. "It worked. You're in with the tech. They didn't suspect a thing!" He opened his eyes to look at Infinite as he stared down from where he was perched.

"So, Shadow, we can either do this the painless way or the hard way. Personally, I'd prefer the hard way, to be honest. I want to hear you scream."

"You have some… odd fetishes…" Shadow muttered.

"No, I am simply pleased to know that we have successfully eradicated all the hedgehogs in your little Resistance."

Shadow smiled as he sat up. "Well, that's not entirely true. I'm still alive."

"Not for long," Infinite said. "Just long enough for me to get what I need from you… And I _will_ get it, Shadow, don't you worry." He jumped from his perch and walked to the holding cell, gripping the bars tightly. "But please, make this difficult for me. I want to watch you squirm. It's more fun when they fight back."

"He's insane…" Tails whispered. Shadow agreed with a discreet nod.

"I was there, you know… When Silver died. Oh, it was only a day ago, wasn't it? Do you want to know how he spent the last moments of his worthless life?" Shadow steeled himself. He wouldn't show Infinite weakness just yet. "He faced death with dignity. I never understood that. All living things should fear their end. Why is it so much better for them to not scream in the face of their demise?" Infinite shrugged. "I can't imagine why so many of you worthless creatures think that not fighting for your life is somehow more honorable… But no matter. Perhaps a primal survival instinct kicked in at the last moment and he tried to defend his body from the flames, but the explosion tore him to pieces. There wasn't anything left of the squad… I checked."

Shadow tried to keep his fists from shaking. He had seen war first hand and he knew how horrific it was, but to hear someone describe death in such a nonchalant way was physically sickening.

"Actually, I lied," Infinite said. "There was one… a dishonorable little brat, by your standards, who had managed to flee the scene."

Shadow bit his lip, but tried not to show any sort of discomfort at Infinite's words.

"And you want to know what I did, Shadow?" Infinite slammed his palms against the bars, shaking them and startling Shadow. "I tore his mind apart! I made him _regret_ surviving that explosion when no one else did! I made him watch his squad members be ripped to pieces by the explosion and I made him _wish_ he had died alongside them!"

Shadow ran at the bars to try and attack, but Infinite flickered out of existence and reappeared a few feet out of arm's reach.

"And then I made him put a bullet through his head."

"You disgust me…"

"Tell me where they are, Shadow, or you will hear their screams until you claw your own ears out." Shadow didn't give him the satisfaction of hearing his retort. Infinite laughed. "Good. I was hoping that would be your answer." He turned and left the holding cell in silence.

"If it helps…" Knuckles whispered after Infinite's footsteps had long faded. "He's probably lying…" Shadow nodded slowly. He couldn't respond verbally, but it was true that Infinite was probably making the story up about the straggler just to get a rise. What bothered Shadow was that it had worked. Was he getting too attached to these kids?

Of course, that didn't mean he was lying about Silver. It was easy to imagine the silver hedgehog standing in the face of the inferno with nothing but a grim look of defiance, and then, maybe out of fear, he tried to escape, but it was too late. It was far too easy to imagine.

"Look down the hall," Knuckles instructed. Shadow stood and paced for a few minutes to try and give it a more natural feel before looking out into the hallway. They had implanted him with a commlink deep in his ear canal and clear contact lenses that allowed them to see and hear everything he did. "I don't see anything useful," Knuckles grumbled. "Alright, so this is how it's going to go. Someone will be monitoring this camera at all times." Shadow blinked to say that he understood. "If he uses any illusions, we won't be able to see them, but just try to keep a level head. We'll talk you through it, okay?" He blinked. "Well, Shadow, congratulations. You are officially undercover in Eggmanland. How does it feel?"

Shadow wasn't sure what he was feeling, but it was definitely not worthy of congratulations. He tapped the bars of his cell, spelling out _I hate you_ in Morse code.

Knuckles laughed. "I hate you, too. Try to get some rest, alright?"

Shadow wished he could turn off the links, but he knew that was a bad idea. Whoever was watching wouldn't bug him a lot in case something picked up on the sound waves, but it was still annoying to know that someone was watching his every movement. He closed his eyes, most likely annoying Knuckles in the process. He wanted to tell him that they should find a new place before Eggman broke him, but he couldn't spell that all out in Morse code. Maybe Knuckles would be smart enough to move their base. It was time for a move, anyway.

"Good night," he grumbled as he curled up in the corner of the cell.

"Night."


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter Four: Throw it All Away_

"Time to switch," Knuckles said. Tails turned to him as the echidna handed him a cup of coffee. It was well into the first night of Shadow's imprisonment. "How is he?"

"Still sleeping," Tails said. He sipped the coffee. It was watery and weak, but he supposed that it was a miracle that they even had coffee to begin with.

"Good. I'm sure Infinite won't give him enough opportunities to sleep, so at least he can get rest before the torture begins."

Tails frowned and turned back to the black monitor. The sounds of light breathing came from the speakers. "Why do they need to take prisoners?" he asked.

Knuckles sat down beside Tails and sipped his own cup of coffee. "As much as Eggman likes to tout that we are merely a simple annoyance to his plan, the point is that just even our continued existence is a threat to him. He doesn't have the entire world. There are several territories in a few countries that aren't bowing down to his reign _because_ he hasn't been able to produce our heads on spikes. We give those remaining territories hope and he wants to crush it. We may not be pushing him back, but we are preventing him from gaining any more ground. Each explosion we cause is a piece of propaganda against him, which will embolden more revolutions across the world. We aren't the only resistance in the world, but it's only by our continued fight that the others are able to keep going."

Tails looked down at the light brown liquid in his cup. When did Knuckles become a public speaker? "Yesterday, everything was normal," he whispered. "Now… it feels like the entire world is falling apart."

"It is…" Knuckles said.

"Ain't that the truth?"

Both Tails and Knuckles turned to the door. Espio was leaning in the doorframe. "I told you to rest," Knuckles snapped.

"Yes, well, if we had enough people for me to take a couple days off, then we wouldn't be in trouble. I'm fine, Knux. How's Shadow?"

"He'll be fine," Knuckles said. "You two should rest."

"I'm not tired," Tails argued, and he wasn't lying. He was well rested compared to the other freedom fighters.

Knuckles turned to look at the monitors and sighed. "Fine, you can stay up with me, but you need to sleep at some point. As for you, Espio," he said without turning to the chameleon, "you've lost a lot of blood and you need to take it easy."

Espio snorted and walked into the monitor room, pulling a chair in behind him. He sat down on the other side of Tails and looked up at the monitors. "Nothing's on."

"I'll change the channel," Knuckles muttered. "He's sleeping."

"Get up!"

All three animals in the room froze as the shout came through their speakers. There was the sound of a foot hitting flesh followed by a low groan. The monitor blinked to life. Instead of Infinite staring down at Shadow, it was Eggman. "Good morning, Doctor," Shadow grumbled. "Do you know what time it is?" Eggman didn't speak as he cuffed Shadow and started leading him down the hall. "I thought you had your mutt to take care of these things?"

"Shadow, don't antagonize him," Knuckles hissed. The monitor went black for a few seconds before he opened his eyes. They stepped into the elevator and Eggman pressed the top floor.

"Is he going to throw him off?" Tails asked. Why would they be going up? Usually torture chambers were down below.

The elevator dinged and Shadow was shoved forcefully out into an observation deck. Knuckles stood in anticipation. "We've never gotten a good look at Eggmanland," Espio explained quietly. Shadow was obviously just as aware of this fact because he made his way quickly to the window and scanned the landscape slowly while Knuckles recorded the footage.

"Where's Infinite?" Shadow asked.

"Building a weapon," Eggman said.

"Is there a reason you've brought me up here, or is it just to admire your work?" He turned back to the city. "It's hideous, but I've seen worse."

"Shadow… you and I have worked together before. I do not want us to be enemies."

Shadow scoffed. "You've already burned that bridge, Doctor. I'm no longer your dragon."

"I want to end this without any more bloodshed if I can," Eggman said. It was Knuckles who scoffed this time. "If you tell me where to find them, I won't kill them. We will negotiate their surrender and they can just let it be."

"Do you honestly think they'd go for that?" Shadow asked. "They will fight until no one else remains. You know that, and I know that, and Infinite definitely knows it."

"I know… but they are fighting a losing battle."

"We've survived ten years of this, Robotnik… We don't need you to take pity on us now." Shadow leaned on the railing. He hadn't taken his eyes off the city. "Unless… Infinite scares you."

Eggman chuckled nervously. "Infinite is a blood knight and I wish I could say that I trust him… but the truth is that I don't."

"Why are you telling me this?" Shadow asked. Knuckles leaned forward. This was valuable information and even Tails knew it. If there was a rift between Eggman and Infinite, then maybe that was the weak point they could exploit.

"Because Infinite will not stop until everyone is dead if you keep fighting us."

"You're protecting us?" Shadow asked. "How sentimental of you, Doctor, but why? We are your greatest enemies. Is now truly the time you want to take pity on us? Or are you simply concerned for us or regretful for what you've put us through?"

"Don't read so much into this, Shadow. I just want to end this silly war as much as you do."

"Then jump off this platform," Shadow grumbled.

To Tails' surprise, Eggman didn't react negatively to the suggestion. Was the man getting too old and tired with their conflicts to care anymore? "Let's not kid ourselves, Shadow. This war doesn't end with my death."

"Then stop Infinite yourself," Shadow said. "He's still loyal, isn't he?"

"Infinite will remain loyal for as long as it benefits him."

"And you want me to go back to the Resistance and try to get them to surrender because you think Infinite is finding your alliance bothersome? So, you _are_ afraid of the monster you've created, aren't you? Seems to me, Doctor, that you need to stop meddling. Did you not learn your lesson with Metal?"

There was a sigh on the other end, though it was hard to know from whose mouth it came.

"I brought you up here to think about it," Eggman said. "It would be better for you to tell _me_ where they are, because Infinite will get an answer from you, and when he does, there will be no survivors. I, at the very least, will offer them their lives."

"I wonder what Knuckles would say to that," Shadow said.

"Tell him where he can shove his offer," Knuckles snapped.

Eggman, however, laughed quietly. "Ah, Knuckles… Who would have thought that that troublesome, if not a little ditzy echidna would rise in the ranks so much…"?

"You didn't leave him much choice," Shadow said. He moved his head until he could watch some robots entering the tower below. "So, Doctor… What ever happened to Sonic and Tails?"

Eggman chuckled dryly. "Do you want the truth?" Shadow nodded. The robots were coming out now through an underground tunnel. Shadow slowly moved his head, tracing the roads they followed a path, but Tails wasn't paying attention to the information he was visually getting. "To be honest, I don't know what happened to Tails," Eggman continued. "Our scanners have been unable to find him, so if he is still alive, he's off planet."

"But it would be stupid to think that he was still alive, wouldn't it?" Shadow asked.

"Yes, it would. If he was, he wouldn't have stayed away this lost."

"And Sonic?"

Eggman didn't respond for several minutes. When Shadow looked over at the man, he was staring out into the city and holding the railing of the deck tightly. "Shadow, I hope you _never_ find out what happened to Sonic."

Tails gasped softly and put his hand to his mouth. He felt like vomiting. "Tails, hold it together…" Knuckles whispered.

"Just tell me," Shadow insisted.

"Infinite is good at making things up," Eggman said. "We didn't know what happened to Tails, but Sonic thought we were behind his disappearance, so Infinite gave him what he came looking for."

"An answer," Shadow whispered. Eggman nodded. "You lied to him to break him! But you don't know what happened to Tails! If you didn't kill him, then where the hell is he?"

"Now, Shadow, I thought we were having a decent conversation. Why the sudden hostility?"

Shadow turned to look at his own hands, gripping the railing tightly. Tails turned and started for the door. He had heard enough. Tails ran out of the room and stopped in the commons. The others didn't pay him any mind as he dropped to his knees by the table, gripping the leg of it with a surprisingly firm grip.

He hardly flinched when a hand patted his shoulder. "Hey, kiddo…" Knuckles whispered.

"He thought he was protecting me!" Tails cried. "This… this is all my fault! If I hadn't disappeared, then none of this would have happened!" He put his head on the table leg and cried. "I let this happen!"

"It's not your fault, Tails…" Knuckles whispered, but Tails couldn't believe him. The story Infinite had told Shadow about the straggler came to mind… The horrific details of a disgusting death… And then he imagined Infinite telling Sonic a similar story. How had he died to Infinite's tale? Was he torn limb from limb, or slowly tortured to death while screaming in agony? Or did he face death with a brave and grim look, saying that he knew Sonic would save him and holding on to that hope until his final breath? Had Infinite shown Sonic his demise, or just talked about it with all the gory details?

And what had Sonic done? Had he fought Infinite until he couldn't anymore, or had he simply laid down his arms and died with the belief that he _could_ have saved his best friend, but didn't.

"I was only gone for a couple of hours!" Tails cried.

"I know…"

Tails looked up at Knuckles. "What happened?"

Knuckles sighed and rocked back to sit on his heels. "You disappeared. We gave you a couple weeks before Sonic started to get really worried, though he would have started looking for you immediately if we hadn't told him to calm down and that you were probably off fixing robots or testing things and didn't leave a note. Then, you didn't contact any of us. He was beside himself with worry. I guess Eggman somehow got word of your absence, or Sonic went to his base demanding to know where you were and he and Infinite made something up on the spot." He bowed his head. "We… didn't think Eggman actually had it in him to kill Sonic. I mean, he had him in his clutches before and kept him alive."

Tails wrapped his namesakes around his body. It didn't sound like Eggman was in charge of anything going on in that operation anymore. "What are we going to do…?" Tails asked.

"Fight," Knuckles answered. "That's all we can do now. If we lose here, we will dishonor the memory of everyone we've lost in this war."

"How do you go on with this knowledge?" Tails asked, shaking.

Knuckles didn't answer for a while. The two sat in silence. The ones who had been hanging around the commons had all but vanished to give them their space. Tails didn't know how Knuckles was expecting him to process all of this.

"Tails… I know this is hard, but I don't know _how_ hard it is… but this… This damned war… We have to win and I know I'm putting a lot of pressure on you, but we can't win this unless you fight with us."

Tails put his head between his legs and let out a soft moan. He couldn't answer that. How could Knuckles even think that he could fight with them?

"Tails…?"

"Go away!" Tails snapped. Knuckles sighed and left him to have his moment of grief.

* * *

"Maria!"

"Shadow, calm down! It's not real!"

Knuckles' voice sounded faded and distant. Shadow wasn't even sure where his voice was coming from anymore. It seemed to be coming from an old PA system, but Shadow ignored the warnings. He was running through the Space Colony ARK, but his memory of the place had faded, making the entire structure dark and haunting. He heard them behind him. Their heavy footsteps echoed throughout the ARK in hot pursuit of him. He couldn't seem to run fast enough to completely escape them. They were always within earshot, breathing down his neck.

The sound of rapid fire gunshots stopped Shadow in his tracks. He back pedaled and ran towards the sounds. "It's not real!" a voice was shouting over the PA system, but it was too full of static. The ARK was deteriorating.

Shadow stopped when he turned the corner to find a hallway soaked with blood and littered with bodies. His eyes scanned their faces. He knew them… all of them! They were co-workers, friends… family. "Maria…" he whispered. He looked back at the bodies and his stomach twisted. "I'm sorry…" He spun and ran down the hall to where she was waiting for him. "Maria!" he snapped as he ran into the room.

She stood from where she had been sitting with her hands clasped and her head bowed. "Shadow?"

"We have to leave! They're killing everyone!"

"I can't go to Earth, Shadow," Maria argued, but he didn't pay attention. He grabbed her arm and started running. She stumbled after him, struggling to keep up. "Shadow, stop!"

"We'll figure something out!" Shadow snapped. "Just trust me!" _I'll save you this time!_ They ran together into the pod room. "Don't worry; I'll keep you safe down there. It'll be okay…" Shadow said and repeated it as his hands flew over the keypad to summon the escape pods. "It'll be okay…"

Her screams tore at his heart. He spun. A G.U.N soldier had her on her knees with a gun to her head.

"Stop!" Shadow gasped. "Pl-please… Don't do this!"

"Where are they, Shadow?"

Shadow shook his head. "You already killed them all! Please, just let her go!"

The soldier shoved the gun against her head. The resounding sound of metal on bone echoed around the room. The sirens seemed to have faded away and the voice over the PA system was nothing but a distant memory.

"Shadow…" Maria whispered. "Don't tell them anything…"

"Shut up, girl!" the soldier snapped, slamming the gun across her head.

"What do you want?" Shadow asked, holding his hands up. "Me? I'll come quietly, just let her go!"

"Where is the Resistance?"

Shadow took a step back. Resistance? His mind flew over the possibilities until his memory finally landed on the one thing they needed. The Resistance? In the simulation, everything was becoming jumbled. He couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't. He shook his head. "I… can't…"

"Where is the damned Resistance, Shadow?!" the soldier shouted.

"It's… okay," Maria said. "I've already had my chance…"

"Stop!" Shadow cried.

"Where are they?" the soldier screamed back at him.

Shadow opened his eyes and looked at her. It all felt so real. "Maria…"

"It's okay, Shadow," she said with a soft smile. "I'm already dead."

When the gun went off, Shadow couldn't move. He watched her fall to the ground in what appeared to be slow motion. Her head bounced upon landing and then she lay still with blood spilling from the wound. Shadow turned up to the soldier. It was the same… every time…

Every single time…

"I can save her," he pleaded to the man. "I know I can save her!"

The man lifted his weapon at Shadow and leveled it at his head. "No, you can't. You can't save them all, Shadow… so who are you going to save next time?"

Shadow opened his eyes with a soft cry. He looked around, but he was no longer in the Space Colony. Now he was back in his cell. Infinite sighed from outside the cell. "Welcome back, Shadow. Did you have a nice trip?"

"Don't send me back there," Shadow snapped before he could stop himself. That hadn't been the first time he had been in the ARK and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

"Oh, but isn't it so much _fun_ to be there, reliving old memories?" Infinite knelt by the bars. "It can be different, Shadow. You can save her and the whole ARK. I can make it so that terrible day never happened. I can bring her back."

Shadow lifted his eyes to the masked creature. Bring her back…? "I…"

"It would just be an illusion, Shadow," Knuckles whispered in his ear. "Don't let him seduce you."

"Just tell me where they are," Infinite said. "That's all. Then this nightmare will end and everything can be better."

"This nightmare will _never_ end," Shadow whispered. He didn't know how many times he had been in and how many times he had watched her die. This one was one of the tamer ones. He had watched the G.U.N soldiers beat her to death. He had watched her pod explode in space. Sometimes, they made it to the face of the planet only for the atmosphere to kill her. Sometimes he still felt her blood soaking his fur.

"It will, Shadow, if you tell me where they are. I'll kill you, yes, but before I do, I will give you the life you were meant to have on that ARK… helping people… saving her."

Shadow turned to Infinite and his form shimmered out of existence, leaving only Maria standing in his place. "We can go home, Shadow," she whispered.

Shadow shook his head. "N-no…! The ARK is gone, Maria! The Professor is dead! _You_ are dead!"

She reached her hand into the cell. "Let's go home, Shadow."

"Stop tormenting me!" Shadow shouted at the illusion.

She didn't even flinch. "Granddad's probably worried about us. We've been gone for so long."

Shadow looked away and closed his eyes. "Please stop…"

"Just tell them what they want to know, Shadow."

"I can't," Shadow whispered without looking up.

"Then tell me."

Would it be that simple? Could he confide in her? What would it hurt, to tell her where the Resistance was? He wasn't sure why she wanted to know in the first place, but if it would really end this nightmare… He shook his head. "I can't, Maria. You're not real."

"But I can be real for you," she argued. Shadow put his head to his knees and groaned softly. Why wasn't anyone else saying something? Where was his anchor to the real world? How many times had he sat here, trying to ignore every instinct in him to just believe what he was seeing and give in? He assumed it couldn't have been more than a few days, but Infinite was coming to him at odd hours and intervals, throwing off his internal clock and making it impossible for him to keep track of time. "Shadow?"

He looked up at her. She had reached into his cell and in her hand was a black pistol. He reached forward and took the weapon from her. Was this the first time this happened? He didn't know anymore. He ran his hand over the gun, feeling the weight of it despite knowing somewhere deep down that it wasn't real. He looked up at her with tired eyes. "What?"

She smiled. "You know what to do…"

His hand wrapped around the hilt of the weapon and he placed the barrel to his head. Would it work? Surely it would. These illusions were real to whoever was trapped in them. He sighed and moved the gun away. He had a mission to complete. "I do know what I have to do…" He leveled the weapon at Maria, aiming right between her eyes. "And I'm sorry."

He closed his eyes and pulled the trigger.

 _Author's Note: Oh, the ARK. So much potential for that!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter Five: It Only Hurts if You Let it_

"We have to get him out of there!" Espio snapped. Knuckles had his face buried in his hands while Espio paced the common room. What were they thinking when they sent Shadow to Eggmanland?

"I know…" Knuckles muttered.

"Maybe it wasn't the best idea to send our most mentally damaged member to infiltrate and be captured by a creature whose entire purpose is to psychologically torture us!" Espio shouted.

Knuckles flinched, but didn't look up. "Don't yell at me…"

"No, I _will_ yell at you! The only reason we didn't surrender days ago is because Tails came back and Shadow had a plan! Well, Shadow's losing his freakin' mind and Tails hasn't left him room in days! You're going to get us all killed based on the slim chance that our two most valuable players won't just break down on us!"

Knuckles looked up to glare at Espio, but he didn't back down from his yelling.

"You may not have anything left to live for, Knux, but I do. This is a hopeless fight and I'm not about to get Charmy killed because you want to bet our lives on Tails and Shadow's mental stability!"

"I want to stay and fight…"

Espio's stomach dropped when he looked in the doorway to see Charmy hovering there. "You're supposed to be watching Shadow," Espio muttered.

"It was time to switch shifts."

Espio rubbed his arm nervously. Ever since Vector had been killed, he had vowed not to lose Charmy as well, but also vowed that Charmy wouldn't lose him either. The kid had been young when all this happened, and he was still one of their youngest members.

"I don't want to run, Espio," Charmy whispered.

"I'm not going to let you die for this… Vector wanted me to keep you safe."

"You don't need to protect me," Charmy assured him. "I don't want to leave this resistance…"

Espio bowed his head and closed his eyes. He had promised Vector that he would make sure Charmy got out of this war alive. He hadn't wanted them to give up the fight, but when Vector was killed, they had actually stood a chance. He had assured Vector that at least Charmy would survive.

"Espio," Knuckles said. "How about… we start trying to get Tails ready… Why don't you take him out?"

Espio blinked. "Out?" He crossed his arms. "To where?"

"Green Hill…"

Espio shook his head. Why the heck would Knuckles want him to take Tails out there? "What would bringing him to Green Hill do? Shouldn't we bring him to see the destruction of Central or Metal City? So he knows what's going on."

"No. Bring him to Green Hill."

Charmy stood in silence for a moment, then his eyes widened in understanding. "Oh...! I get it! I'll go get him!" He flew out of the room to coax Tails into leaving his room.

Espio sat down in a chair and looked up at Knuckles. "You know how pointless this is, don't you?" he asked.

Knuckles sighed. "I know," he said. "But I don't want to roll over and die, Espio. I want to give them a fighting chance. I want to win, but if we can't win, then I want Eggman to know who we are before he kills us all."

Espio supposed that he could understand that, but at the same time, Knuckles didn't have a family to look after, and while Charmy wasn't biologically related to him, Espio still thought of the little guy as family. "Knuckles, would you be willing to sacrifice Tails to save the world?"

Knuckles didn't answer for a several moments. He looked at his hands, opening and closing his metal fist. "I'd rather die before him," he said. "But…" He closed his eyes. "I hope it doesn't come to that.

"But it might come to that with Charmy, and I can't ask him to die."

"You aren't asking. No one is telling you that you can't leave, but Charmy doesn't want to leave, and that should be up to him, not you, and not Vector."

Espio clenched his fists. How dare Knuckles even say that name. "Do you even remember how he died?"

"No," Knuckles admitted.

"I held his hand while he bled out," Espio said. "I promised him that Charmy would not die in this war, and I know it was a stupid thing to do for a dying man, but I need to make sure that this is a promise I can keep. You and I both know Shadow and Tails aren't going to be the turning point in this war."

"I have hope…"

"Hope…" Espio whispered. He scoffed. "We can't win a war on hope, Knuckles."

Before Knuckles could answer, Charmy and Tails stepped into the room. "Let's go!" Charmy said with a smile. Espio stood and looked back at Knuckles. He knew that the echidna wanted to be hopeful, but Espio was a realist. He knew how awful this was going to be.

The trio snuck out of the city and into the wilderness outside. Charmy was talking to Tails excitedly, but he wasn't ruining the surprise of Green Hill, though Espio could imagine that all Tails was thinking was waiting for him. The desolation of Mystic Ruins probably meant that Green Hill was destroyed as well. Tails wasn't really listening, it seemed. He was looking around at the world around them.

Espio kicked a rock and watched it roll down. Charmy kept trying to get Tails into a conversation while Espio kept a look out. Eggman wouldn't have guards this far into the jungle, but he wasn't sure he wanted to let his guard down.

The walk to Green Hill took most the day and when they emerged from the jungle, they were standing in what was left of Green Hill. The area that had been turned to dessert during the first take over had been reclaimed by the forest. It was over grown with trees.

"Why have you brought me here?" Tails asked, annoyed. Espio shrugged. He didn't know why he had been brought there.

"Charmy?"

The bee stepped forward. "Knuckles wanted you to see Green Hill."

"What about it?" Tails snapped. "It's a hill, and it's green. So what?"

"It _is_ green," Charmy said. He motioned to the world around them. "Don't you see? This was once a dessert, even before you left, and now it's flourishing again!"

"Yeah," Tails muttered. He crossed his arms, obviously not impressed. "So the wilderness reclaimed this area. What of it?"

"If the wilderness can do that, then why can't we?"

"It's not the same thing," Tails muttered.

"Why not?"

"You'll understand when you're older…"

Charmy narrowed his eyes. "I'm older than you now, Miles," he said. "But, look around you! This world has taken back what it needs, and now we have to! We have to show Eggman that we won't lie down and just give up! Just like the forest!"

"That's a great sentiment, Charmy, but we're not the forest. We're a lost cause…"

Espio closed his eyes. Now he understood what Knuckles wanted them to see. He wanted Tails to understand that they might die, but their legacy would live on. "Tails… I understand why you think this is a lost cause… And Sonic may be dead, but that doesn't mean that we have to die and we can't reclaim what he lost."

Tails sank to the ground, sitting among the grass. It was taller than he was and Espio snickered. "What?" Tails muttered.

"Your ears are sticking up above the grass," Espio said. It had been quite some time since he had been out to Green Hill. They hadn't had a lot of time to just go out to one of the few green spaces left in the Federation. He sat beside Tails and Charmy sat beside him. Out here, one could almost forget the hell that their world had turned in to. The wind blew over the grass, making it ripple like a green ocean.

"Espio…" Tails said.

He didn't turn to the fox, but he nodded. "Yeah?"

"Do you think we can win?"

Espio didn't answer for several moments. Instead, he watched the rippling of the fields in the wind. "Shadow isn't doing too well," he admitted. "But… with you and him, maybe… just maybe…" He paused and closed his eyes, not wanting to crush them, but also not wanting to give them false hope. "Maybe we could stand a chance."

* * *

"One… two… three… four…" Shadow whispered, huddled in the corner of his cell. "Five… six… seven… eight…"

"What are you doing?" Infinite asked.

"Counting," Shadow muttered. Was it time already? What horrific visions would he see today? Luckily for him, he was becoming a bit too desensitized to them. Watching her die was becoming a mundane occurrence, and he hoped that Infinite didn't realize that.

"Come with me," the creature muttered. Shadow stood slowly on shaky legs. Whoever was supposed to be watching his monitors was silent, but he didn't mind. Whoever it was didn't need to talk him through this. He didn't question Infinite's motives as the two walked silently down the hall and into the elevator. Shadow tried to get a good look at the surrounding area as they walked. The mission was still important, even if he felt like dying. They made it to the elevator and Infinite pressed the button for the bottom floor. There was still no voice in his head.

Infinite stepped out and Shadow followed once they reached the catacombs below the tower. "What's down here?" Shadow asked. "Your torture victims? Have I outlived my usefulness?"

"Yes," was all Infinite said. Shadow wasn't sure to which question the answer was addressed. He was tossed into what looked like a small arena, complete with an observation deck above. Shadow put his back to the wall and looked around, but there was nothing to indicate that there was something dangerous in the room. Still, he didn't like having his back exposed.

The door opened and a silver hedgehog was shoved inside. Shadow's first instinct was to be elated at the sight of Silver, but that elation turned into sinister intent when he remembered that Silver had been killed in the explosion. _Another illusion!_ Shadow thought. He wouldn't give Infinite the chance to torture him with this apparition. He lunged instead.

Silver dodged the attack quickly. "Shadow, stop!" he gasped, jumping out of the way of another attack.

"I won't be tricked again!" Shadow snapped as he grabbed Silver's ankle and hurled him across the arena. Silver landed with a loud thud and he dropped to the ground, landing on one knee.

"Oh for the love of…" he muttered and then curled in a ball to roll towards Shadow.

Shadow grabbed the spinning ball of hedgehog and threw him back against the wall.

"Shadow, stop!" This time, it wasn't Silver giving the command; it was whoever was watching the cameras. "He's real! I can see him."

Shadow blinked and straightened out of his ready stance. Real…? But, how? Silver had died in the explosion. Sure, they hadn't confirmed his death, but it was pretty obvious that no one was walking out of that building alive. "You died," he said to Silver.

Silver stood, brushing his knees of the dust from the arena. "Not technically," Silver said. "Just… mostly. I guess you could say that I'm lucky to be alive, though I wouldn't consider any of _this_ lucky. What are you doing here?"

Shadow looked up at the observation deck where Infinite was watching them with mild interest. He didn't seem to care that they had stopped their impromptu battle to have a chat. "I got caught off guard," he said. He wanted to communicate that this was all a scheme, but he didn't even dare hint at that with Infinite watching them.

"Are the others okay?"

"For now," Shadow said, keeping his answers as vague as possible. Why would Infinite bring him there? What was the point of letting Shadow know that Silver was still alive? Everything Infinite did had a purpose, but this seemed counter intuitive to his plan of making Shadow feel helpless. They both turned their eyes to their silent observer. "Think we can take him?" Shadow asked.

"You go high and right, I'll go low and left and I think we got this," Silver said.

"Right." They looked up at Infinite and he stared down at them with mild interest.

The creature leapt from the platform. Both Shadow and Silver jumped away from him, but that only made him snicker. "You two are pleasant little beasts, aren't you?" He waved his hand. "I was hoping you would be a bit more hostile, Shadow."

"Sorry I didn't play right into your hands," Shadow snapped.

"That's quite alright." Infinite motioned for the two to follow him and he led them towards the other cells in the catacombs. When they passed the large metal door, Silver flinched at the mechanical footsteps, but they didn't stop to visit whatever was inside.

"What's that?" he asked quietly.

"I'll tell you later," Silver whispered back.

The two were placed in separate cells next to each other so that they could not see the other one. "Very well, then," Infinite said. He locked Shadow's cell and disappeared into Silver's. Shadow cursed. They were going to have to survive a round of torture before they could get a few minutes to talk about their situations. He sat down in the corner and wrung his hands, trying to predict what horrific thing was about to happen to them. If it was another trip to the ARK, Shadow was sure he could get through it with little difficulty.

When something _did_ happen, it wasn't what Shadow was expecting. From the other cell, there were the sounds of fists and blows falling upon someone. Shadow's eyes widened in realization. Infinite had wanted him to know Silver was alive so he could torture him for the answer. Maria was dead and it didn't matter how many times the illusion happened, nothing would change the fact that she died… but Silver wasn't dead.

"Stop!" Shadow shouted, though he knew nothing would stop Infinite in his rage.

All Shadow could do was sit in the corner and listen; listen to Silver's howls of pain… Listen to Infinite question him about the Resistance… Listen to his own whimpers at feeling utterly helpless in the situation.

And then it hit him… He _wasn't_ helpless! This whole situation wasn't pointless. Infinite hadn't cuffed him or anything to prevent him from just busting out of the prison cell. These bars weren't stopping him. He stood. _He_ was the Ultimate Life Form, not Infinite. He curled into a ball and charged a spin attack before launching at the bar, shattering them. "Sorry," he said to whoever was watching the monitor. They weren't going to infiltrate Eggmanland like this. They needed a better plan that didn't involve mind screwing torture to get inside.

Infinite stopped the beating on Silver to face Shadow. "You think you can just escape?" he asked with a laugh. The two lunged at each other, meeting in the air. Shadow kicked out at Infinite and he returned with a hard punch to the face. Both fell back from one another, but before another attack could be launched, Infinite was forced to the ground by a green aura. "Let's go!" Silver said. Shadow nodded with a smile and the two took off down the hall.

"What's in the metal door?" Shadow asked as they passed it.

Silver shook his head. "That doesn't matter right now! All that matters is getting out of the hellhole!" Shadow couldn't argue with that and the two picked up the pace, running faster into the corridors. They dove into the elevator with Infinite hot on their heels, but they managed to shut the door on him. "How are we getting out of Eggmanland?" Silver asked.

Shadow sighed. "I didn't think we'd make it this far…" he said. "But, let's first focus on getting out of the tower, then we'll rendezvous with some of the Resistance on the outskirts of Station Square." He didn't want to say exactly where, since they were surely being watched by cameras by that point.

The elevator dinged at the ground level and the doors opened to the firing of machine guns. The two hedgehogs leapt out of the way of the bullets and ran at the robots, hopping on them like they were nothing but minor annoyances.

As they ran out of the tower, Shadow noticed a red mist hanging in the air of the ruined city. "What is this?"

"Pollution, probably," Silver said. "Come on!" Shadow followed him, but as he walked behind Silver, he saw that his companion was limping heavily.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Silver said. "But, let's find a place to stop so we can try to get these wounds taken care of."

Shadow agreed and they walked for several minutes before ducking into an alleyway. The red fog hung heavy over them, but it didn't seem to smell and cause any lasting damage, so Shadow ignored it. He knelt in front of Silver and checked his wounds silently. "This whole war has been a disaster, hasn't it?" Silver muttered. Shadow nodded. "So, really… what were you doing here?"

"It was some dumb scheme of mine to get myself purposely captured," Shadow admitted. Silver didn't look that much worse for wear, but he figured most of the damage would be internal. "If we had known you were here, we would have come in guns blazing." He laughed quietly. "How did you survive the explosion?"

Silver shrugged. "I don't know, honestly," he said. "I thought I was going to die, but I didn't. Maybe Infinite saved me."

"He's getting desperate for our location," Shadow muttered.

"You didn't tell him, did you?"

"Of course not!" Shadow felt a little offended by the question.

"Good."

Shadow sat beside Silver and sighed. They would have to keep running soon. Eggman wouldn't let them go without a fight and getting out of Eggmanland was a task easier said than done. "So, the door."

"Oh…" Silver sighed and closed his eyes. "Infinite didn't show me, but I'm assuming it's just another robot they keep locked up like Metal. Probably a bit too unruly to keep roaming around, but too valuable to destroy."

"Eggman sure likes his homicidal machines, doesn't he?" Shadow asked with a soft laugh.

"Ain't that the truth?"

Shadow stood. "Come on. They aren't going to wait for use to get better before trying to kill us again. We should keep moving." He helped Silver to his feet and the two started down the main street of the amusement park-like city. When he was sure that they have nothing left to worry about, Shadow picked up their pace and Silver ran at his side.

"You guys haven't moved the base yet, have you?" he asked.

It was a valid question. "No, not yet."

"So… It's still in the same place?"

Shadow nodded slowly. "Yes… The sewers… under the train station… Same as always…" He wasn't sure why he had said that. It was almost like he was trying to confirm this was real. He blinked and Silver fell back from him, stopping in the middle of the street. The red fog was growing thicker the further away from the tower they had gotten. "Silver?"

Silver was standing in the middle of the street with his head down, shaking. Shadow stepped forward until he realized that Silver wasn't shaking, he was _laughing._ "Oh, Shadow…" His voice was distorted and mixed with a familiar, far more sinister growled. The world of Eggmanland began to melt away around him, crumbling and fading from existence until all that remained was Silver, laughing with a distorted cry.

And then even he began fading. His form shimmered and blinked until the silver hedgehog was gone, leaving only Infinite in his place.

"Thank you, Shadow… For your cooperation!"


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter Six: It's All a Blur and so Unclear_

The alarms were going off when Tails, Espio and Charmy returned to the base. "This is not a drill!" a loud speaker was assuring the frantically packing members of the Resistance.

"We have twenty minutes at the most!" a cat was saying to Knuckles. She had a helmet under her arms.

Knuckles shook his head. "Not even that," he said quickly. "Eggman will send the robots in the city here immediately!" He turned to address the other animals. "Leave everything!" he shouted. "Just get out!"

Espio ran to Knuckles with Tails at his heels. "What's going on, Knux?"

"They broke Shadow."

Tails' stomach dropped and he suddenly felt a little sick. "Come on, Tails!" Charmy shouted, grabbing his arm.

"Charmy, take him to Escape three! I'll meet you outside the city," Espio called. Charmy nodded and he and Tails took off down the hallway, only stopping for a moment while Charmy grabbed a gun and handed one to Tails as well. Tails stayed as close to the bee as he could.

"We're almost there!" Charmy assured him. They ducked into a corridor and opened the door at the end of the hallway. They were greeted by a storm of bullets. Charmy slammed the door and pushed Tails down the hall and back the way they had come.

When they got to the commons, the panic had subsided, but just for a moment. Before anyone had time to say anything, robots streamed into the base. Charmy held onto to Tails' arm tightly and looked around. "Surrender now," one of the bots commanded, "and you will be allowed to live."

Tails looked around the room. There were only ten of them in the common room and all exits had been blocked. He looked up at the ceiling, but knew they couldn't escape by going up. Gunshots were going off in other rooms, followed by horrified screams. The robots all had their guns trained on the ten soldiers.

"Lay down your weapons," the robot said. One of the soldiers moved; a bird. A few of the robots shifted their guns to be trained solely on him as he lifted his gun and very slowly laid it on the table.

"What are you doing?" Charmy gasped.

"It's over, kid."

"It's not over! We can fight our way out of this!"

Tails wasn't sure how much he believed what Charmy was saying. There seemed to be no feasible way to escape. Would Eggman even let them live? Surely not. He imagined that the moment their weapons were down, the squad of robots would become a firing squad. His eyes darted around as Charmy argued with the others, even as they placed their own weapons on the floor. There had to be something… Anything…

"Charmy, lay down your gun."

"What?" Charmy was aghast that Tails would give in as well.

"Just do it." Charmy narrowed his eyes, but he seemed to see some logic in the request because he slowly bent down and placed his gun on the ground as well. Tails followed the action.

"Good. At the ready," the head robot said. The other robots lifted their weapons and their guns cocked. Tails nodded. It seemed Eggman, or Infinite, was not taking any chances. When the guns started, Tails and Charmy leapt into the air, hurling the other soldiers out of the line of fire. With only two of them, they had known that not everyone could be saved. The ones that managed to land on the other side of the robots took off running while Tails and Charmy navigated the air space above, dodging bullets.

Charmy dove into another hallway and Tails landed and then ran down to the workshop. "Kyte!" he called, but their mechanic had already fled. _Or she's dead,_ Tails thought grimly, but he couldn't let those thoughts stop him. He ripped through the tech, trying desperately to find something to use against the robots, but he hadn't been able to come up with something to counter them yet.

He looked at the robot on the table that he had been examining and nodded, his mind made up. He ran to the bot and started ripping it apart for the mounted guns on the arms and shoulders. If he had been given more time, he would have reprogramed the thing, but time was not on his side. He mounted the weapons to his own gun while the sounds of fighting continued upstairs. All fear that he had felt about being in this situation was turning into hatred. Each gunshot meant that someone's life might be over and for what? A world? A world that would have accepted Eggman and Infinite as members of society had they just gone about it without the world domination angle! They had no one to blame but themselves for the hatred directed at them!

Tails finished mounting his weapon and ran up the stairs. There were a few of their army still fighting against the robots, but most were either huddled behind things or dead. Tails cocked the machine gun from the robot downstairs and opened fire.

In the resulting confusion, many of the remaining soldiers trapped in the base fled as Tails mowed down a good plenty of the robots with their own bullets. The attack came from behind and sent him flying forward. His gun clattered to the floor and he scrambled to reclaim in. The moment his hands wrapped around the weapon again, he sprang up with the barrel pointed forward to face his attacker.

"Well, well, well…" Infinite said. He also had a simple pistol aimed at Tails' head. He laughed with a shake of his head. "If it isn't Miles Prower… I must admit, Miles, that is it extremely difficult to surprise me, but this… If I was not the only one standing in this room that could utilize the Phantom Rubies, I would believe I was under the influence of them! Where have you been? And why haven't you grown since last we met?"

"Doesn't matter," Tails snapped, gripping the weapon tighter. "Are you going to shoot first or should I?"

"If you shoot, these robots will make sure you don't make it out alive."

"At least I'll take you with me."

"Does that make you feel better, little kit? Does the idea that I will die with you make your death any more meaningful? Would you close your eyes and accept death in the comfort that you managed to take my life in the process?" Infinite laughed and lowered his weapon, opening his arms so Tails had a good aim of his chest. "Do it, then, kit! Take me with you!"

Tails aimed the barrel at Infinite's heart and his finger rested on the trigger. He tried to still his shaking, but couldn't. Taking a life, even one as foul and disgusting as Infinite's, was repulsive to him.

Infinite laughed harder. "What? Are you really having second thoughts? Shoot me!" Infinite took a step forward. It wasn't even that Tails would feel bad about killing him. He knew Infinite was right. The moment he put a bullet in Infinite's body, the robots would put several hundred into his. Knuckles had a plan and that plan involved him being alive long enough to get back to his time and fix this mess.

But he didn't lower his gun. "How much do I have to pay you to not kill me?" Tails asked. "This isn't my fight. I'm from a different dimension."

Infinite waved his hand, annoyed. "I'm not going to kill you, you little brat," he said. "No… I was thrilled to be able to unveil my newest weapon, and now this is just the icing on the cake. There is no greater stage than this for me to unleash your death!"

Before Tails had a chance to question what Infinite meant, a blue streak ran through, knocking the gun out of Tails' hands. The new attacker landed in between Tails and Infinite and the fox's blood ran cold. "So-…"

He couldn't even get the word out. The hedgehog that stood in front of him might have once been Sonic the Hedgehog, but all that was left seemed to be a monster. Despite Sonic's right eye being red and robotic, it was his left arm and shoulder that had been replaced. Unlike Knuckles, who had been roboticized in order to save his life, Sonic had been torn apart and put back together. His right hand and leg had both been replaced, along with his jaw and ears. His one green eye was dull and lifeless and in his hand was a pistol.

"What are your orders, Infinite?"

Tails shuddered. His mouth didn't move with the words, and his voices sounded soulless and robotic, meaning that they had implanted him with a mechanical voice. "Sonic…?" Tails whimpered. The hedgehog lifted the weapon and aimed it at Tails. Tails felt like it would be a mercy to his friend to shoot him, but he couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger. "It's me…" he begged. "I came back, Sonic! Please…!"

"But this one out of his misery," Infinite said.

Sonic nodded. "Of course."

Tails bit his lip and lowered his own gun. He couldn't shoot his friend, even if this creature in front of him wasn't his friend anymore. "Fine…" he whispered. He flinched when the gun cocked and stared Sonic in the eyes without looking away. He'd face this with dignity.

Sonic hesitated. For a brief moment, recognition flashed in his one green eye. "T…" The moment's hesitation was all that was needed. Knuckles jumped between Sonic and Tails and he started his attack on the blue hedgehog. Sonic let out a few bullets before tossing the gun and engaging in hand to hand. Tails picked up his on weapon and fired at the robots while Infinite called for a retreat of the bots.

Knuckles grabbed a punch from Sonic and then he finally seemed to realize who he was fighting. "S-Sonic?!" he gasped. Sonic threw Knuckles into the air and Tails jumped up to catch him. He hurled a small bomb at the ceiling and it exploded, leaving a hole to the street above. Tails dropped Knuckles and the two ran through the streets. They both knew that outrunning Sonic was impossible, but they could lose him in the city.

"Where are the others?" Tails asked.

"Outside the city limits! We'll meet up with them when we lose Infinite and…" He cut off and Tails nodded in understanding. Knuckles suddenly grabbed Tails and threw him back into the sewer. They didn't stop running until they were outside the city limits. Only then did they emerge from the sewer and even then, they continued jogging down the old train tracks until they could no longer see Station Square in the distance.

Neither spoke as they walked on the tracks. Tails could see that Knuckles was troubled by the revelation, but Tails felt utterly sick to his stomach. The thought of what they had to do to Sonic to make him so devoid of life and to turn him into a cyborg in such a patchwork way twisted his stomach. He stopped suddenly and opened his mouth, relieving his stomachs of its contents. Knuckles waited patiently while he retched on the ground.

When he finished, they started moving again. "How did this happen?" Tails whispered.

"I don't know…" Knuckles admitted. "We thought he was dead… We were _sure_ he was dead…" Tails nodded and looked at the tracks below his feet as they walked. It wasn't long before they met up with the other survivors. Tails' breath caught in his throat. There didn't seem to be more than twenty stragglers.

Espio came running towards them. "Is Charmy with you?"

Tails' stomach dropped. The last he had seen of Charmy was the bee dodging bullets and diving into a room.

"No," Knuckles answered.

Espio swung his fist at the flesh side of Knuckles' face. He took it without dodging. "You idiot!" Espio shouted. "We should have surrendered when we had the chance! Now we won't even get the courtesy of dying with honor! Look at this, Knuckles… It's over! You've screwed this whole operation up! I _told_ you we couldn't win a war on hope alone, but you went through with this ridiculous scheme anyway and why? Because Tails showed up? Well, look how much damn good that's done for us!"

Knuckles didn't move during the entire rant and when Espio paused, all he did was sigh. "Are you finished?" Espio could only stare back at him, dumbfounded. When he didn't offer a retort, Knuckles spoke again. "Sonic is alive." The bluntness of his delivery sent a shiver up Tails' spine.

"What?"

"They roboticized him."

Espio scoffed, throwing his hands in the air. "Great, so Infinite isn't even the worst we have to worry about now. It's time, Knuckles…"

Knuckles closed his eyes and walked away without answering Espio's assessment. Tails watched him and then turned back to the chameleon. "He was dodging gunfire the last I saw him," he muttered.

Espio scoffed at the comment. "That doesn't make me feel any better," he muttered. He walked back to the other survivors and sat next to the small fire that they had built. Tails didn't join them by the flames. Instead, he went to a tree and jumped into the branches. His first instinct was to start crying. It seemed like the only rational thing to do, but he had no more tears to give them. Crying wouldn't begin to fix any of this.

"Is there anything to fix at this point?" Tails asked the starry night sky.

"Sir?"

Tails looked down to see Kyte staring up at him. "Oh… You…" _lived,_ he thought, though he didn't want to say the words out loud. How morbid was it that the standard greeting was now "good to see you're still alive"?

She giggled and climbed into the tree as well, stopping a few branches under Tails. "Yeah," she said, obviously understanding where his comment had been going. "This is rough…"

"Rough doesn't even begin to describe it," Tails muttered.

"I suppose not." She looked out into the night with a sigh. "I don't think Espio is wrong…"

"Neither do I…"

"But that doesn't mean he's right."

"Hm?"

"This may all seem hopeless and scary, but at the same time, we might finally have an advantage."

Tails looked down at her, confused. How could they possibly have an advantage? "What are you talking about?"

"Infinite thinks this will break us. They might not be sure we'll come back… If we can manage to not let this tear us apart, we can still come back for one final battle."

"It's over," Tails muttered. "There's nothing else we can do. They won and it's time we understand that."

Kyte looked up at him, dejected. Tails hated to break her spirit, but Espio was right. It was time to throw in the towel and be thankful they were still alive. "I don't agree, Miles," she said.

"Agreeing doesn't have anything to do with it. I don't care if you don't agree that two and two equals four, it still does."

"Two and two can equal twenty-two," Kyte argued.

Tails looked down at her, somewhat shocked that she would even think to use that kind of logic… or lack of… "Great, you figured out how to cheat math. Now let's figure out how to fall the Eggman Empire and then we can talk."

"I _have_ an idea. We still have agents in Eggmanland."

"Who we can't contact."

"Right, but…"

"Look, Kyte, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but it's time to face the music. This war is over. We didn't stand a chance and my presence in this stupid place isn't going to change squat, so count your blessings because you're still alive."

Kyte climbed up onto Tails' branch and stood in front of him. "You call _this_ living?" she snapped. "I was only five years old when Robotnik took over Metal City. Whatever life I had before his takeover is gone. I watched his robots kill my family, and then I survived two years in Eggmanland before I escaped to join the Resistance and I won't sit here and watch everyone give up because it became more difficult!"

"It didn't become difficult," Tails retorted, "it became _impossible._ We aren't going to win this!"

"So we should stop trying?"

"When trying means certain death, I'd say so."

"But not trying is a slower and more painful death while they hunt us down and torment us until they finish off our band. Is that what you want?"

"I want to go home," Tails muttered.

Kyte narrowed her eyes at him. "And you won't get to go home until you get off your butt and do something."

Tails sighed and leaned against the tree trunk. He knew she was right, but what hope did they have? What could they possibly hope to accomplish? Tails laughed. Hope… They didn't even seem to have that anymore. Everything had broken and destroyed them and now they were dealing with the horrific aftermath of a desperate war.

Then, an idea hit him. "The other resistances…"

"What?"

"Eggman will use this defeat to try and convince the other resistances that we are dead. We _have_ to contact them and bring them here! We have to rally support!"

Kyte looked confused for a moment, and then it seemed to dawn on her. "We've been operating in the shadows too long! It's time to start fighting back publically!"

"We aren't going to win this war without a PR campaign! We have to rally the rest of the world to stand up against Robotnik!"

Kyte smiled and jumped from the tree with Tails following closely behind her. They ran to where Knuckles was sitting on a rock, staring out into a mirror-still lake. "Knux!" Tails called.

He flinched, but didn't react much beyond that. "You sound excited about something…"

"This isn't the end!" Tails said.

This grabbed Knuckles' attention completely. He turned to the two excited kids and cocked his head. "Espio's right, Tails. We should have surrendered. I was just too dead set to see that we had no chance."

"That right," Tails said, nodding quickly. "But not for the reasons you think."

"It's time we go public with our war effort." Kyte chimed in.

"Public?"

"Yessir! If we start rallying support, then we'll get enough troops! There are already other resistances in different sectors and we were the heart that kept this thing going, but a heart in isolation is meaningless! If we can contact the other resistances and start rallying civilians to fight back, then we might stand a chance!"

Knuckles stayed quiet for a moment, mulling over to details, then his eyes widened. "It just might be crazy enough to work!" He jumped off his rock and the trio hurried back to the gathered group of survivors. 21 in total sat around the fire as Knuckles relayed the idea. He made it sound better than Tails had and he smiled despite the terrible circumstances. His anti-social, loner friend had become quite a leader in his own right.

Just as he finished and seemed to be getting support, Espio stepped forward. "No," he snapped.

"No?" Knuckles asked.

"No! You're going to get more people killed! A group of trained soldiers couldn't do anything and you want to bring civilians into this war! Face it, Knuckles; we _lost!_ It's over and the sooner you realize that, the sooner we can all get on with our lives!"

"Lives?" Knuckles retorted. "You call _this_ a life? This is a slow and painful death, Espio."

"Maybe for you, but for me…"

"For you?" Knuckles asked, cutting him off. "I know you've lost a lot, but so have I…"

"At least Tails and Sonic are still alive," Espio grumbled.

"I wish Sonic was dead. You didn't see what I saw."

"No… You don't," Espio grumbled.

Knuckles dropped his shoulders. "Both Sonic and Tails were dead not a week ago, but I fronted this Resistance for ten years. I'm _sorry_ about Vector and Charmy, but they wouldn't want you to give up this effort. You know that. Vector would want you to try fixing this hellhole, or die trying."

Espio crossed his arms. "Like Charmy?"

Knuckles shrugged. "You've got nothing to lose… right?"


End file.
